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6 months ago
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GERMANY could recruit teenagers to its armed forces as Europe shores up its defences to prepare for war with Russia.
Leaked military documents have uncovered Berlin’s plans to conscript all young men and women as soon as they turn 18.
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German defence minister Boris Pistorius could go public with the radical initiative as soon as next month.
During a trip to the US last week, Pistorius said the banning of Germany’s compulsory military service in 2011 was a “mistake”.
Now as Nato states prepare for conflict in Europe with extensive war drills, the defence chief is keen to bring back conscription laws.
Including women in mandatory military service would mean changing Germany’s constitution, marking an unprecedented shift.
But army insiders believe the policy would be “most likely to receive societal approval”.
Three different possible routes have been drawn up by military planners, The Sunday Telegraph reports.
One of the other options would just see 18-year-old men included in compulsory service.
The third would involve applications for all with only some selected to serve.
If Berlin axes the bold plans for compulsory service, alternative recruitment campaigns could be used in their place.
The reports were leaked after a fresh invasion by Putin in Vovchansk, near Kharkiv, last week as the tyrant’s war rages on.
Zelensky said just days ago that a “fierce battle” was taking place in the embattled town as brave Ukrainian soldiers tried to fight off Putin’s forces.
Other Nato countries, including the UK, have debated conscription as they face the ever-increasing threat of Russia.
Latvian foreign affairs minister Krisjanis Karins has previously urged the UK to adopt a “total defence” military strategy with citizen-soldiers who can be called up at a moments notice.
General Sir Patrick Sanders, UK army chief, stressed the need for ministers to “mobilise the nation” in an urgent warning just months ago.
After repeated pleas for defence spending and resources to be poured into the UK’s shrinking army, Sanders said the public needed to “think more like troops”.
And Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is set to give a major speech where he will warn that the next five years are going to be among the most dangerous Britain has ever seen.
Conscription in the UK
GERMANY is not the only country in Europe to be linked to conscription - compulsory participation in military service.
Amid rising fears of World War 3, experts have warned about the preparedness of the British Armed Forces.
There are currently no conscription laws in the UK.
The last time it was used was during World War I and World War II.
General Sir Patrick Sanders, chief of general staff in the army, issued warning in January that sparked conversations around a possible fresh wave of conscription.
The military top brass shared fears that the current British forces are not big enough to fight an all out war with Russia.
He said there should be a “shift” in the mindset of the public who need to “think more like troops” and be prepared for a call-up.
Sanders told Brits: “Our friends in Eastern and Northern Europe, who feel the proximity of the Russian threat more acutely, are already acting prudently, laying the foundations for national mobilisation.
“We will not be immune and as the pre-war generation we must similarly prepare – and that is a whole-of-nation undertaking.”
Admiral Rob Bauer – chair of the Nato military committee – also warned that civilians should be ready for a conflict that could change their lives.
He said: “You have to have a system in place to find more people if it comes to war, whether it does or not.
“Then you talk mobilisation, reservists or conscription.
“We have to realise it’s not a given that we are in peace.
“And that’s why we [Nato forces] are preparing for a conflict with Russia.”
Following Sanders’ comments, Downing Street issued a statement assuring Brits conscription was not on the horizon.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s spokesperson said: “The British military has a proud position of being a voluntary force. As I say, there’s no plan for conscription.”
The myriad of global threats from Putin in Russia, Xi Jinping in China, and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Iran have put the government on high alert.
Huge Nato war drills have been taking place in the Baltic states, just hours from Putin’s border, as fears of an all out war grow.
Around 90,000 troops from all 31 member states gathered in January for a war exercise scheduled to stretch until late May.
The drills are designed to put on a show of strength in the face of Russian tyrant Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine.
Germany sent 12,000 of its troops to the drills, some taking place in Estonia, and the UK sent 20,000.
The leaked military plans come after Berlin earned the scorn of its fellow Nato members over an embarrassing intelligence leak in March.
British military secrets were splashed across Russian state TV and former UK defence chief Ben Wallace said the country had shown itself to be “neither secure nor reliable”.
More than two years into the war in Ukraine, Germany has also faced criticism for its weak sanctions on Russia as well as minimal funding and weapons for Kyiv.
Ukraine’s repeated pleas for German Leopard tanks in particular have been met with underwhelming and faulty deliveries.
Conscription in Germany was in place for men between 1956 and 2011 – by the end recruiting them to spend six months either in the military or civil defence services.
Women, allowed to join as volunteers, have never been conscripted in Germany.
The country’s constitution would allow for the policy to be brought back if need be.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said Brits will not face conscription amid the threat of Russia
General Sir Patrick Sanders, UK army chief, warned about the possibility of conscription in the UK
German forces have been taking part in Nato war drills
English (US)